The primary goal of this COBRE proposal is to increase the number of active, NIH-funded biomedical researchers in the State of South Carolina. This will be accomplished through the combined efforts of a number of investigators at the University of South Carolina who have merged their collective expertise in formation of a multidisciplinary research group studying the biology of colorectal cancer, its therapy, and its prevention. Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in the US, with about 150,000 new cases and 56,000 deaths occurring annually. Current pharmacologic regimens provide only marginal benefit in managing the disease, owing to the drug resistance of colorectal tumors, as well as to the toxic side-effects evoked by these regimens. The biomedical scientists who have come together for this application have formed an interdisciplinary center (the Center for Colon Cancer Research, or CCCR) that has focused its efforts around the problem of colorectal cancer. The research proposed in the current COBRE application has three aims. The first is to carry out research on specific molecular, biochemical, genetic, and lifestyle factors that impact upon colorectal cancer and its therapy. This will be done by supporting four projects led by promising junior faculty members. The second aim is to provide core facilities in support of these research projects, giving the lead investigators necessary state-of-the-art technical capabilities. The final aim is to manage a program through which the four young faculty, as well as ten new faculty to be recruited during the five-year period of the grant, are mentored by established investigators with substantive records in NIH funding. In all, the COBRE program proposed in this application will have two long-term benefits. First, the number of NIH-competitive researchers in South Carolina will increase. Second, the CCCR will be poised to apply for a program project grant in the area of colon cancer. Such grants are few in South Carolina and in other Idea states.